I have done everything right for once and am ready to break camp at 5:30. It is too dark to leave before that. I cowboy camped last night. My quilt is rated for 20F so I was generally pretty sweaty all night. After the bugs subsided at 9pm, I even had the liberty to roll […]
Author: David Somers
Day 26 – Out of the Frying Pan, into…
I stayed up way too late last night trying to get my blog post up for those two doctors I camped with. The cell service is only one bar, and everything uploads so slowly. Since I didn’t get to bed until after 10, I forgot to refill my water reservoir, and have to do it […]
Day 25 – Into the Frying Pan
On my first day in Ashland, a young man approached me. “Are you a through hiker?” That confirms it: I look unredeemable. His trail name is GrindZ because he likes his coffee in the morning before anything. He offered to take me back to the trail today. So at 7:30 we leave my motel for […]
Day 22 – Oregon
I wake at 3:45 because I hear a rustling noise. I look out the end of my tarp – there is nothing there. It appears that Ditty is up, but the women sometimes get up early to pee (who doesn’t). I close my eyes again. When I open them it is 4:40 – and the […]
Day 21 – Siskiyou Mountains
Yesterday evening the group discussed fire closures in Oregon. These are a fact of life on the PCT. At this point I may have to skip as much as 100 miles north of the Sisters. Nobody wants to skip, so we are going to look at the options more closely in Ashland. I don’t want […]
Day 20 – Escape from Seiad Valley
One thing I didn’t tell you about Seiad Valley is that it is part of the State of Jefferson. From what I understand, folks in this area (NorCal/Oregon) have wanted to band together and become the 51st state of the union. The energy behind the movement is really about saying “no” to the states they […]
Day 19 – Race to Seiad Valley
I did not sleep well after a run-in with a raccoon as I lay in my quilt. He was slinking up on me (looking for camp goodies) when I heard him. I scared him so bad with my reaction that he raced off into the bushes coughing and barking. I did not see him again. […]
Day 18 – A Pacific Crest “Trial”
I wake up out of a shallow slumber to hear footsteps approaching behind me. I turn over to find a hiker tromping down the path to our camp. The hiker has his head lamp on and is casting about in the dark, trying to find the narrow trail. He discovers our tents, but he does […]
